Enhancing Hydroponic Organic Tomato Resilience through Grafting and Bioprotection Strategies

Summary

The infestation of major greenhouse pests such as whiteflies, leafminers, and thrips and hot and humid conditions pose significant challenges in controlled environment horticulture, particularly for organic tomato production. Low tomato productivity is attributed to pests and inadequate stress tolerance of existing cultivars, which hinder the ability to optimize fruit set and yield. Although the individual effects of bioprotection and grafting strategies of conventional production systems have been extensively studied, their combined effects in controlled environments have been less explored. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of grafting (‘Maxifort’ × ‘Valdeon RZ’) and bioprotection strategies (yellow sticky traps, Spinosad, and Bacillus thuringiensis) on the mitigation of greenhouse